Injured Ankle
by Roxanna123
Summary: Modern AU. Riku, Roxas and Sora go skateboarding on a beautiful Summer day and are having fun. But Riku ends up injuring his ankle and wants to keep it a secret from his father.
1. Chapter 1

**I own nothing**

"Wait up Riku!" Roxas yelled, trying to get his skateboard to faster.

"Yeah Riku!" Sora yelled as well, trying to catch up too. "Really!"

Riku turned around and laughed.

Sora, Riku and Roxas decided to go skateboarding on this beautiful Wednesday afternoon during Summer through town. Yelling, laughing and just having a great time together.

Finally, Riku stopped his skateboard for the others to catch up to him. He laughed when they stopped next to him, breathing heavily.

"You need to stop getting so far ahead," panted Sora, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"Yeah Riku," Roxas panted as well, trying to get his breath back.

"I wasn't that far ahead was I?" Riku laughed.

The two cousins gave their friend a 'really?' look.

"Your legs are longer than ours," Sora explained.

"So you obviously have more power than we do," Roxas continued.

"So stop getting far ahead of us," the two shorter boys concluded in unison.

Riku laughed harder this time.

"Ok, ok, ok," he said. "I won't get too far ahead this time."

"Thank you," said Roxas, starting to push off to move.

Then Sora and Riku followed in pursuit. They skated quietly for a while when Riku got an idea.

"Race ya to the ice cream shop!" he shouted, propelling himself foreward.

He laughed when he heard Sora and Roxas exclaim and yelling at him. He got far ahead before he turned around and made a silly face at them. Soon, he heard another skateboard approching him. Riku turned and saw Roxas smirking at him. Then, he got ahead.

"Looks like I'm going to beat you!" he called back, pushing off some more.

"In your dreams!" Riku shouted, increasing his speed as well.

Before he knew it, Riku and Roxas were at the ice cream shop, wondering who won. They argued a little before Sora finally pulled up.

"Who gives a crap?" Sora asked. "Lets just get some ice cream."

Agreeing to that, they went inside and got Sea-Salt ice cream; Riku paid. Then, the friends went back outside and sat at one of the tables.

"I love Sea Salt ice cream," said Sora, licking the sweet treat.

Roxas and Riku laughed.

"You say that everytime we get it," said Roxas, rolling his eyes.

"But its true," said Sora.

"Yep," Riku agreed.

Then, they continued on eating their ice cream. When they were done, they went back to skateboarding. While riding along, they did tricks. Riku did a 360 and landed weirdly but unharmed.

"Riku, you might want to be careful," warned Roxas.

"Yeah, you might break your ankle," Sora added.

Riku waved them off.

"Oh I'll be fine," he said. "Don't worry about me."

They skated on and soon came across of some uneven ground. Now, anyone thinking rationally would not try to do tricks on this kind of ground but Riku didn't care and did tricks anyway.

"I don't think its safe to do tricks here," said Sora nervously. "Maybe we should go ahead a little bit before doing some."

"I agree with Sora," Roxas added.

But, once again, Riku waved them off.

"Its fine," he said, "and I'll be careful. See?"

Then, he did a 360 and landed weirdly again but, this time, he fell and twisted his ankle. Riku cried out when he heard a clear sharp crack.

"Riku!" his friends cried, rushing over to him.

Riku was holding his ankle in pain and didn't look up when they reached him.

"Oh Riku, this looks bad," said Roxas, kneeling down and wincing. "We need to get you to the hospital."

"No!" Riku shouted suddenly. "No hospitals!"

Sora looked worried.

"Well, can we at least call your dad?" Sora asked.

Riku shook his head.

"Oh, hell no," he answered. "If Dad finds out, he'll kill me for not being careful."

Roxas threw his arms up in exasperation.

"Then, what are we going to do?" he asked. "If we can't go to your dad and we can't go to the hospital, where can we go?"

Riku paused to think for a moment.

"I was thinking of going to your place, Roxas, and just put ice on it," he answered. "And I was thinking of hiding this from Dad."


	2. Chapter 2

**I own nothing**

Sora and Roxas stared at Riku, blinking. It was completely and utterly silent before Roxas exploded.

"Are you INSANE?!" Roxas yelled.

Both Riku and Sora jumped at their friend's outburst.

"You are going to be discovered when you walk in the door!" Roxas yelled again.

Sora raised up his hands in surrender.

"Ok, Roxas calm down," he said, steadly.

"Yeah man," said Riku in a steady voice as well. "Take it easy."

"Your left ankle is broken and you want to hide this from your dad!" Roxas continued to yell. "Calming down is not going to be easy!"

Roxas stopped and was breathing heavily. Riku sighed while Sora took this chance to slap his cousin.

"Thanks, I needed that," said Roxas in more calmer tone, holding the cheek that was slapped. "But seriously, Riku, you won't be able to hide this."

"Yeah, its a serious injury," added Sora.

"Oh come on guys," said Riku.

He tried to move but the movement caused a sharp pain to run up his leg. Riku cried out again in pain.

"Come on," said Sora, helping Riku up. "Lets get home and get some ice on your ankle."

Eventhough Riku is a few inches taller, Sora managed to get Riku up and helped him hobble down the street with Roxas trailing behind them with the skateboards. They walked seven blocks towards Roxas' house and once they were there, Roxas stopped them.

"Wait," he told them in a hushed tone. "Let me see if my Dad is home."

Then, Roxas raced inside and checked the house. Sora and Riku stood there waiting impatiently because Riku is heavy and Sora can't support him anymore. Soon, Roxas leaned out and motioned for them to come in, telling them that it was safe. Riku and Sora quickly got inside. Riku let go of Sora and hopped over to the couch. He sat down and grabbed a pillow, wincing as he propped his foot up. He sighed as he leaned back. Then, Roxas came over and quickly took off Riku's shoe, who bit back a cry of pain.

"Geez!" Riku wheezed out. "That hurt!"

Roxas shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, the shoe had to come off so we can put the ice on it."

"It hurt!" Riku cried.

"Then, lets go to the hospital!" Roxas exasperatingly said as he walked into the kitchen.

"Hell no!" Riku called.

"Then shut up!" came the reply.

Soon, Roxas came back with a plastic bag with ice in it and placed it on Riku's ankle.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow," Riku muttered, reaching forward towards the bag.

Sora smacked his hand away.

"Don't touch," he scolded.

"Sora!" Riku cried.

Then, they heard a garage door.

"Shit!" Roxas muttered. "Quick, hide the ice and turn on the TV."

Riku grabbed the ice and placed it behind his back while Sora grabbed the remote and turned on a random movie. Roxas raced over to the couch and jumped onto it next to Riku on his right while Sora jumped onto the couch on the other side of Riku. Then, Roxas' father, Cloud, entered the living room with bags.

"Hey Rox, someone injured themselves at work today so they sent us all home," said Cloud as he walked into the kitchen. "So I went out and bought some chicken for dinner tonight."

"Ok Dad," Roxas called, trying to focus on the movie so he didn't have to lie.

"Hey Sora," Cloud called as he placed the bags down and taking the contents out. "Hey Riku."

"Hey Mister Strife/Uncle Cloud," Riku and Sora called in unison.

The teenagers heard Cloud putting away stuff.

"So what did you boys do today?" Cloud asked.

All three of the boys tensed up.

"Uh...skateboarding," Sora called.

"That's fun," Cloud called back.

Cloud didn't ask anymore questions after that which the boys were thankful for. Ten minutes later, Cloud walked by.

"I'm going to take a shower," said Cloud as he went upstairs. "Theres some chips in the kitchen if you boys are hungry."

Soon, they heard the water running. They sighed with relief.

"Ok," said Riku, propping his leg back up. "Thankfully we didn't have to lie that time."

Roxas nodded.

"Yeah, really."

Riku took the ice out, which was half melted, and placed it on his ankle. Then, they spent twenty minutes watching the movie. After that, Sora sighed.

"Can we do something else?" Sora whined. "Please?!"

Riku and Roxas sighed as well.

"Ok, ok," said Roxas as he got up. "I'll go find a video game we can play in my room. I'll be back in a few."

Then, he went upstairs. Riku and Sora just sat there in silence before Sora got up.

"I got to go to the bathroom," said Sora before running upstairs.

Riku shrugged after that and leaned back on the couch, hands behind his head and his eyes closed. He sighed, trying to get comfortable with his throbbing ankle.

"Oh Shiva Riku," Riku heard a voice. "What happened?"

Riku snapped his eyes open and saw Cloud giving him a concerned look.

"Shit!" Riku muttered.


	3. Chapter 3

**I own nothing**

Riku just sat there.

"Um...I fell off my skateboard," he answered.

Cloud raised an eyebrow and walked over to him.

"You just fell off your skateboard?" Cloud asked, kneeling down and examining Riku's ankle. "This looks more serious than just falling off."

Riku swallowed. There was no way in hell he was going to tell Cloud, who was friend of his father, what happened.

"Roxas!" Cloud called.

Riku looked over and saw Roxas at the top of the stairs, eyes widened.

"Can you tell me what happened here?" Cloud asked.

Roxas gulped. Riku gave Roxas a pleading look.

"Um...what happen was...uh...um..." Roxas stammered.

Cloud frowned.

"Yes Roxas, go on," Cloud motioned his son continue.

Roxas opened his mouth to speak when Sora walked up.

"Hey Rox, did you find your game?" Sora asked.

Roxas looked at him and motioned his head towards his dad. Sora turned and saw his Uncle Cloud. He visably blanched.

"Sora, what about you?" Cloud asked, now standing up and crossing his arms. "Do you know how Riku broke his ankle?"

Riku mentaly groaned. Sora can never lie to anyone. He sucked at it.

"Um...I don't know Uncle Cloud?" Sora sounded more like he was asking his uncle than telling him.

"Sora," Cloud warned sternly.

Sora shuffled his feet. Then, he sighed.

"I'm sorry guys," Sora told his friends before turning to Cloud. "While we were out skateboarding, we came across some uneven ground and we were doing tricks on it. Riku did a 360 and fell off, twisting his ankle."

"Sora!" Riku cried.

"Sorry!" Sora cried back. "Uncle Cloud found out, might as well tell the truth."

Cloud, now satisfied with a believable answer, turned to Riku with a frown.

"Riku, your ankle is broken," said Cloud. "This is a serious injury. Why did you want to hide this?"

Riku didn't answer him. He didn't want to. Cloud sighed but didn't push the teenager to answer. Instead, he helped him up.

"Come on," he said, gently, helping Riku walk. "Lets get you to the hospital."

Then, he turned to the two other teenagers.

"You two can come along as well."

Sora and Roxas raced to the door and held it open for Cloud and Riku. It took a bit but soon Riku was sitting in the front seat of the car and Roxas and Sora were sitting in the back seat with Cloud driving. They arrived at the hospital as quickly as they could and Cloud helped Riku inside. He got him to sit down in a chair while he went to the front desk to get the paper work. He handed the clipboard to Riku before going off to call Sephiroth. When Cloud came back five minutes later, Sora was walking up to the front desk to give back the paper work. Then, Cloud sat down next to Riku.

"I couldn't get a hold of your father so I left a message on his answering machine," Cloud explained to the 16 year old.

"Ok," said Riku, not looking at the older man.

Then, an hour passed when a nurse came out and called out Riku's name. Riku tensed up.

"Come on," Cloud said as he got him up.

"I don't want to," Riku muttered to Cloud.

"But you need that leg looked at," Cloud countered, moving forward. "Come on now."

Then, Cloud helped Riku hobble down the hall to the exam room.


	4. Chapter 4

**I own nothing**

Once Riku got to the exam room and was on the exam table, a nurse came in and took Riku's vitals, which he did not like.

"This is stupid," Riku muttered around the thermometer.

"Don't talk young man," the nurse scolded.

Riku rolled his eyes just before the thermometer beeped.

"Riku!" Cloud warned.

"Ok, a temperature of 99.3," the nurse muttered after looking at the reading, writing it down. "The doctor will be in in a few minutes."

Then, she left them. Riku tried to move a little to get comfortable but a shot of pain rose up from his ankle. He grunted, trying to bite back a cry. Roxas and Sora stood on the left of him, wishing they could do something. Cloud opened his mouth to say something when the doctor entered.

"Hello, I'm the attending physician for Riku Crescent," said the doctor, shaking all of their hands before turning to Cloud. "Are you his father?"

"No, I'm only a family friend," Cloud said.

The doctor nodded and turned to Riku.

"Now, what seems to be the prob-," he was cut off by a phone.

It was Cloud's phone. He looked at it.

"His father is calling," Cloud told the doctor. "I'll be back in a minute."

Then Cloud answered the phone, saying 'hello' as he walked out. The doctor turned back to Riku.

"What seems to be the problem?" the doctor asked.

Riku took a deep breath and explained the story, Sora and Roxas adding a little here and there. The doctor nodded.

"Ok, I'll examine your ankle and get an X-ray and we can go from there," said the doctor.

He sat down in a rolling chair and rolled up to Riku's left ankle. He gently touched it and lifted it up slightly.

"Can you stretch it?" he asked.

"No," Riku answered.

The doctor examined his ankle some more before standing up.

"I'll have a nurse come down and wheel you to X-ray," said the doctor before leaving the room.

Cloud ran into him and the doctor explained what was happening. Cloud came back in and looked at Riku.

"Your father is on his way," said Cloud.

Riku looked at the floor.

"What else did he say?" Riku asked quietly.

Cloud went over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"The first words out of his mouth were 'How is he? Is he alright?'," said Cloud. "He's very worried about you."

Riku opened his mouth to say something but the door opened and a nurse came in with a wheelchair. Cloud and Roxas helped him down and into the wheelchair.

"Can you guys come?" Riku asked.

He never had an X-ray done before.

Cloud looked at the nurse and she nodded.

"You can't be inside with him but you can wait outside the room," she told them.

Then, she rolled Riku down to the X-ray room with Cloud, Roxas and Sora following. Once there, Riku got on the table and another nurse placed the machine over Riku's ankle. Riku turned to the window and saw Sora and Roxas standing there, making silly faces to make him laugh, which he did.

"You need to be still while the machine is on," the nurse gently told him.

Riku turned back to the nurse and nodded. Then the nurse left. Riku heard the machine turn on and sat as still as possible. Soon, the nurse was back.

"Ok, now we wait for the pictures to develop," she said.

The nurse from before came back and wheeled him back to the exam room. Cloud helped Riku get back up on the exam table. About ten minutes later, the doctor came back in with a folder. He took the contents out and placed them on a light board. Turning on the light, the pictures of Riku's ankle appeared.

"Well, Riku's ankle is indeed broken," said the doctor, taking his pen and tapping on the picture where the broken bone was. "It is, however, a clean break so he won't need any surgery."

Cloud nodded.

"Thats good news."

"He will need to be in a cast for about 6 weeks then, once he can bear weight on it, he will go through physical therapy," the doctor explained. "I'll also perscribe some pain killers if he needs them."

Cloud nodded again.

"Ok, then," he said. "Thank you doctor."

The doctor and Cloud shook hands.

"Someone will come down and put the cast on Riku," said the doctor just before he left.


	5. Chapter 5

**I own nothing**

Sephiroth's heart was pounding in his chest as he drove down to the hospital. When he listened to that voice message from Cloud, Sephiroth felt his stomach drop. He just couldn't believe it. He tried to get the rest of the day off work after that but he wasn't aloud to leave until after a meeting. Luckliy for him, the meeting was short, surprisingly because most of his meetings end up taking hours.

Once Sephiroth got to the hospital, he rushed inside to the front desk.

"Riku Crescent," said Sephiroth, his hand clenching at his side with worry.

The lady turned to the computer and began to type.

"He's in exam room 203," she said.

"Thank you," said Sephiroth with a nod.

He walked as fast as he could to the exam room where he saw Cloud walking towards him.

"Cloud, how is he?" Sephiroth asked, worry in his tone.

Cloud raised up his hands and placed his hands on Sephiroth's shoulders.

"Riku is fine," he told him. "The doctor said it was a clean break and he was going to be in a cast for about 6 weeks."

Sephiroth took a deep breath and nodded.

"At least he didn't need surgery."

"Yeah," Cloud agreed.

"Is Riku getting his cast put on now?" Sephiroth asked.

Cloud shook his head.

"His cast was already put on," said Cloud. "A nurse is giving Riku a check up before letting him leave."

"Ok," said Sephiroth before moving towards the door.

Sephiroth opened the door and saw Roxas and Sora sitting in chairs while Riku was getting his temperature taken.

"Hi dad," said Riku with a thermometer in his mouth.

"You don't talk with a thermometer in your mouth sweetie," the nurse admonished like Riku was six years old before turning to Sephiroth. "I'm guessing your the father?"

Sephiroth nodded.

"I am."

The nurse opened her mouth to speak when the thermometer went off.

"Ok, temp is still at 99.3," she muttered, writing it down before looking back at Sephiroth. "Do you want to speak to the doctor?"

"Yes," answered Riku's father.

"Ok, I'll send him in," said the nurse before leaving.

Cloud entered the room.

"Hey, do you want us to stick around?"

"Nah thats ok," said Sephiroth. "You and the boys can go home."

Cloud nodded.

"Come on boys," said Cloud. "Sora, I'll drop you off."

Then, Cloud and the boys left. Sephiroth walked over to his youngest son.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked, brushing away some of Riku's bangs.

"Sore," Riku answered.

They were silent for a few minutes before the doctor entered the room.

"Hello, you're the father of Riku I presume?" the doctor asked.

"Yes I am," said Sephiroth, going over to the doctor and shaking his hand. "My friend told me you said that the break was a clean."

"Yes, the break was clean," said the doctor. "He'll be in a cast for about six weeks and then, depending on how his ankle is healing, we'll put his leg in a brace or walking boot."

"Alright," said Sephiroth with a nod.

"I also perscribed a pain killer for Riku to take if he seems to be in any pain," the doctor went on.

"Ok."

"I'll go get the discharged papers," said the doctor before leaving.

Soon after, a nurse came in with a wheel chair, saying she would wheel Riku to the front entrance. Sephiroth nodded and helped Riku into the chair. Then, when the doctor came back, Sephiroth signed all of the paperwork. He went down to the front door and saw Riku waiting with the nurse.

"I'll pull the car up," said Sephiroth, rushing outside.

He quickly got to the car and pulled up to the entrance. The nurse wheeled Riku down the ramp and helped him out of the chair. Riku climbed into the car, putting on his seat belt. Then, Sephiroth drove them home. Riku reached for the crutches that the nurse placed in the backseat when Sephiroth drove up the drive way.

"Go to the kitchen," Sephiroth ordered. "I want to talk to you real quick."

Riku sighed but nodded, getting out of the car. He hobbled up to the door and waited for his father to open the door. Sephiroth got up the door, unlocked it and held it open for Riku to get through. Riku's older brothers, Yazoo, Loz and Kadaj, were sitting in the living room, watching some show.

"Oh Shiva," said Yazoo, looking up with a shocked face. "Riku, what happened?"

That caused Loz and Kadaj to look up as well. They had a look of shock on their faces too.

"Yeah, what happened?" Loz asked.

"Were you in an accident?" Kadaj added.

Riku blushed slightly.

"I...uh...um...I," Riku stammered.

"He'll tell you later," said Sephiroth, putting a hand on Riku's shoulder, "but right now, I'm going to talk with him in the kitchen."

Yazoo and Loz nodded. Kadaj nodded as well but had this look on his face that said 'Ahh, a lecture'. Riku hobbled into the kitchen and tried to sit on one of the stools but the seat was kinda high so Sephiroth helped him up onto it and placed the crutches on the side.

"Ok, so why did you want to hide this from me?" Sephiroth asked, standing in front of Riku with his arms crossed.

Riku sighed, deciding to tell the truth.

"I knew you were going to be pis-I mean annoyed when you found out what happened anyway so I thought I could delay you finding out for a while," Riku explained, changing his words when he saw his father's eyebrow raise at the swear word he almost used.

"You're right," said Sephiroth with a nod. "At one point, I got annoyed at that the fact this accident was completely avoidable. But I quickly got over it because all that matters is that you're ok and safe and sound."

"So you aren't mad?" Riku asked.

"No," said Sephiroth. "I'm just relieved that you're alright."

Then, Sephiroth went over to his son and gave him a hug, which Riku returned. They stayed like that for a moment or two before Riku pulled away.

"Now, you're going to rest for the remainder of today," said Sephiroth.

"Ok," sighed Riku, rolling his eyes.

Then, he reached for his crutches but accidently pushed them down with his leg. He sighed again.

"Dad, can you grab my crutches please?" he asked.

Instead of doing that, Sephiroth picked Riku up bridal style and brought him into the living room, placing him on a chair. Then, he pick up a pillow and placed Riku's ankle on it, keeping it raised.

"Boys, since Riku has a broken ankle," said Sephiroth, turning to Riku's older brothers and gesturing to Riku's blue casted leg, "I want him to get as much rest as possible so that means I want you to help him out. Bring him a snack if he's hungry or a drink when he's thirsty, that sort of thing."

Kadaj gave him a 'really?' look.

"Basically be his servants," said Kadaj.

Sephiroth sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Not really."

"Uh yeah, if he asks for something and expects us to bring it to him, then we are basically his servants," said Kadaj, leaning back against the couch.

"I give up," Sephiroth muttered before walking to his office. "I'm going to be in my office and I don't want to hear Riku walking around unless he's going to the bathroom, you understand?"

"Yes Dad," said Yazoo.

Then, Sephiroth entered his office and closed the door. Loz turned to Riku.

"So, tell us what happened to your leg," said Loz.

Riku explained the accident to his brothers.

"I told you you were going to hurt yourself if you weren't careful," said Yazoo with a sigh.

"Oh shut up," said Riku, rolling his eyes. "Besides, I learned my lesson so it doesn't matter anymore."

Then, the TV show faded into a commercial.

"Hey, can one of you bring me a bottle of water?" Riku asked.

"Yeah," said Yazoo, standing up. "Do you guys want any water too?"

Loz nodded.

"Yeah, thanks," said Loz.

"See, we are servants!" Kadaj cried.

The others glared at him.

"Oh shut up Kadaj," snapped Yazoo. "Do you want a water or not?"

Kadaj huffed and grumbled.

"Yes."

The rest of the day consisted of watching random and boring TV shows until dinner. Then, after dinner, the Crescent family watched a couple of movies together until bedtime. Once Riku got into his pajamas and brushed his teeth and hair, he climbed into bed. He was about to close his eyes when he heard a knock on his door.

"Yeah?" he called, sitting up in his bed.

Sephiroth came in.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "Not in any pain?"

Riku shook his head.

"No."

"Is your leg propped up?'

"No."

Then, Sephiroth walked over to Riku's bed and grabbed a pillow, propping his leg up. Riku laid down, getting comfortable.

"Thanks Dad," said Riku. "Good night."

"Good night son," said Sephiroth.

Then, he bent over and placed a kiss on Riku's forehead. Riku closed his eyes and turned onto his side. Sephiroth smiled and left the room, turning off the lamp and closing the door behind him.


End file.
